| Author | Message | ||
     Ulyful |
My first 3-yr. adventure/touring motorcycling experiment with the '06 Uly has come to an end. I traded in my '06 X yesterday for a loaded used 2013 Triumph Tiger Explorer with only 3500 miles on it. With the Uly, I discovered that I do like the genre. I entered into the experiment in search of a better fit ergonomically, and found it. The tall adventure touring bikes are much more comfortable for my 6' 5" frame (barefoot) than the Harley Touring bikes I've primarily ridden for the last 20 years (still have a 2012 Road King in the stable). However, it was time to upgrade. While I loved the Uly, it is primarily an open-road motorcycle, which there's nothing wrong with, but I do much more city riding than I do open road riding. My riding environment unfortunately doesn't provide much of the air that air-cooled engines desperately need. 98 degree/98% humidity days (like we had here in SE Michigan yesterday) feel like I'm sitting on top of a blast furnace while on top of the Uly (in stop-and-go traffic--yes, I did have the full Comfort Kit and some automotive cat converter soft aluminum heat shielding installed over the right frame hole under the seat to keep the engine heat from baking my underside). The water-cooled Tiger stays cool in any temp. Thanks a million for all the help from the BadWeb community. You guys (and gals) are awesome! Couldn't have done it without you! Also wish all of you the best with continuing to find maintenance and replacement parts for your rides. The BadWeb community is certainly a tight one, and if there's a supplier source out there, it certainly won't stay hidden for long.  | ||
| Reepicheep |
Stick around. Once a bueller, always a bueller. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Too clean, never ridden. Norman likes the Triumph. http://www.amc.com/shows/ride-with-norman-reedus He didn't like the Confederate bike. Buell should pony up an SX for Norman to borrow and ride on the show. (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on July 25, 2016) | ||
| Tootal |
Holy Crap! Look at the size of that windshield! No wonder you were hot! | ||
| Falloutnl |
Windshield like that is going to put a lot of strain on the measly few bolts the cockpit is fastened with :P | ||
| Reepicheep |
The bolts could probably support the weight of the bike and rider, but the flyscreen plastic would rip from around the bolts pretty easily. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I picked up a '14 TEX a year ago but kept the Uly. I do far more miles on the Triumph now, but every once in awhile I hop on the Uly. You're gonna dig the TEX, I think. It has gobs more power and personally I have a lot more faith in the beast. But for corner carving, the Uly is a bit sharper. | ||
| Tootal |
That looks like a Madstad so if he opted for the steel flyscreen then it's not a problem. | ||
| Ulyful |
The Madstad comes with a thick acrylic flyscreen that is much stiffer than the thin plastic OEM flyscreen. The Madstad brackets then attach to the acrylic flyscreen. Madstad used to provide an aluminum flyscreen, but they switched to acrylic a few years ago. I was a little leary at first, whether it would hold, but it did just fine. True, the little screws that secure the OEM flyscreen are really tiny, but there are 6 of them, plenty to keep even my large picture window completely vertical. Had the beast up to 85-90 MPH before I started noticing it really starting to move around. Can cruise at 80 MPH quite comfortably with no windshield shake. If you guys think my Uly windshield is tall, I need to show you my Road King windshield! As "the Donald" would say.....IT'S HUUUUGGGEEE!!! My riding buddies call it a picture window. I installed a spring-loaded police seat on the Road King that raised me up even higher, so needed the added window height. The HD windshield brackets are VERY strong. No problems there either. Will only have to replace the rubber mounting washers a little more frequently. I did see Norman Reedus riding a Triumph Tiger Explorer on the one episode I caught on TV. Didn't think he'd go for that model while traversing the U.S. in front of a nationally televised audience. Thought he'd ride a Harley (not that I have a problem with the "TEX".....). My Uly was my second bike. I only put ~4k miles on it in 3 years. Trailered it down to the Dragon and SE Ohio when I wanted to ride the twisties. Don't like putting needless highway miles on my bikes. They are much easier to sell when they have low miles. I keep them pretty clean too. While the Uly has a definite advantage chassis-wise (carving canyons) over the TEX, with it's sport-bike tires and chassis architecture, the TEX (mine anyway) has a lower seat height. Claimed seat height for both bikes are roughly the same, but I definitely sat up alot higher on the Buell than I do on the TEX. That lower center of gravity seating position on the TEX will help get it around corners quicker (at least for me) than I did on the Uly. You gotta lean the Uly over alot more and balance the higher CG in the corners. I just didn't feel completely confident in leaning the Uly over as far as I probably could have. With a wife and 3 young kids waiting for me at home when I get back, I tended not to push it. I was generally a middle-of-the-pack rider on my Uly among all the Dragon group riders I went down there with. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
No such animal as "needless miles", only miles not ridden. Triumph bikes are nice and they do their own thing. Do love the look of the Thruxton. Would love to test ride one some day but never seem to see Triumph sponsoring any demo rides. Take that back, have demo'd in Marne, Iowa a few years back. That was fun. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
By the way, I'm all in for big windshields. Hate highway miles without one. | ||
| Ulyful |
Got my first real ride on the TEX Wednesday. Found out that it was lowered, which explains why it seems to sit so much lower than the factory seat height specs suggest. The front forks are pushed through the triple trees about an inch. The rear must have been lowered too. Gotta look into raising it back up. Doesn't take much for me to scrap my feet on the pavement in turns. |
